How Accenture Transformed Contracts and Put Them to Work Across Their Organisation

Foreword by Sarah Armstrong, Director IP Partner Strategy & Sales, Microsoft, and Martin Mohr, VP Business Development & Alliances, Icertis

Nobody is quite sure who first said, "a verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on", but we understand their concern about value. Nowadays, many organisations struggle to get maximum value from written contracts – what they need is an intelligent approach to contract lifecycle management (CLM) that takes static documents out of filing cabinets, digitises them, and applies AI. This creates a connected and dynamic platform that can be used across the organisation to strengthen operations, fast-track opportunities, reduce risk, and ensure compliance. That is what the Icertis and Microsoft alliance delivers.

Whenever we discuss Intelligent Contract Management with partners, a common response is to ask how they will learn how to "manage our contracts today to define our success tomorrow". Leaders across organisations clearly agree; they have an appetite to learn from other's best practices; and we hear directly from Accenture who can now make better commercial decisions based on standardized contracting processes across their organisation. Also, you can learn from industry-specific presentations on-demand for Healthcare, Manufacturing and Retail.

Driving better commercial decisions at Accenture

Anand Pandya (Senior Legal Counsel) explained that the Icertis Contract Intelligence (ICI) platform was delivering "really tangible benefits". Stephen Nicolls (CIO) added, "We're getting a lot of great feedback and the plays we were expecting are certainly coming into fruition." These are:

• Enhanced employee experience: A unified gateway for contract information breaks down silos and makes it easy to access information in real time when, where, and how you need it using familiar Microsoft applications. People can self-serve, so cross-enterprise functions such as Legaland IT have more time to add value.

• Accelerated digital transformation: Digitised contracts provide a backbone for better data across the organisation. Accenture needed a scalable solution that integrated seamlessly with their existing systems. Icertis and Microsoft running on Azure get a big tick.

• Process efficiencies: "When you joined a new project or deal there used to be a big task to understand the history of the relationship," said Anand. "Now, everything is at your fingertips, and that's a huge benefit."

• Stronger decisions: "One of the most exciting things is the data coming from the tool", said Stephen. Digital contracts overlaid with analytics tools such as Power BI give Accenture the clarity and insight they need to stay ahead.

The project involves key stakeholders and users across the organisation and, as Anand explained, it's "helping to bring everyone together in an exciting way". Accenture is looking to integrate ICI with Teams to further enhance collaboration.

Watch how Icertis and Microsoft provide a firm foundation for the future of healthcare

Pam Jowdy (Icertis) and Niall McDonagh (Microsoft) talk about how a strategic approach to contracts will help a "shocked system emerge stronger"¹ and deliver better patient outcomes:

• Giving back time for care: We helped Sanofi unify 60 different contact management applications across 173 countries. Healthcare professionals have instant access to critical data, unified and presented clearly in their language, and can collaborate securely using trusted Microsoft software.

• Injecting insight: Using real-time data, AI flags supply chain vulnerabilities before they become a problem. It sends alerts on NDAs, expiry dates, obligations, and entitlements and supports resilient operations.

• Ensuring compliance: In an ever-changing regulatory environment, our mass amendment features are making compliance easier for clients such as Humana.

Learn more about contract intelligence for healthcare in our on-demand webinar.

Watch how Icertis and Microsoft boost performance and profitability for manufacturing

George Painumkal (Icertis) and Roger Mueller (Microsoft) discuss how our alliance helps manage, and maximise value from, a complex web of contracts:

• Achieve more, faster: Speed gives manufacturing organisations the edge. We automate and accelerate source-to-contract and supplier onboarding. Airbus benefits from faster commercial negotiations, and we have reduced time-to-market for Daimler.

• Strengthen resilience: AI-powered insights expose supply chain disruptions before they happen to minimise downtime and maximise productivity.

• Reduce risk and cost: Keep tabs on contractual obligations and entitlements. Our approach helps reduce risk and stay compliant.

There are more insights in our manufacturing eBook.

Watch how Icertis and Microsoft can help you reimagine retail

Andre Ropeta (Icertis) and Paolo Da Silva (Microsoft) look at how coming to grips with multiple, increasingly complex contracts is the first step to improving customer experience:

• A single source of truth: 60% of retailers say that they cannot find the valuable contract information they need because it's trapped in silos. We give them full visibility, clarity on agreements, and quick, easy access to the data they need.

• Maximise supply chain value: Digitised contract data augmented with AI helps you spot opportunities, automate processes, reduce risk, and ensure compliance.

• Uncover hidden revenue and boost productivity: By integrating ICI with Best Buy's POS system, we reduced turnaround time for rebates on their critical promotions by 70%, speeding cashflow and freeing a ton of working capital.

Discover how we're strengthening the retail customer journey in our retail eBook.

Contracts define how your business runs—from the most distant link in your supply chain to how you manage your IP and your customer relationships. With contract intelligence, you can structure and connect the critical information in those contracts so you can close deals more quickly, dynamically trigger actions when conditions are met, and respond immediately when new challenges or opportunities arise.

Contact Icertis if you would like to find out more about how Icertis and Microsoft can help.